


The Forgotten Wife

by afteriwake



Series: The Summer Of 100 Surprise Stories - Summer 2018 [7]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Angry Molly Hooper, Apologetic Stephen Strange, Cohabitation, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Divorce, Dying wishes, F/M, Fake Marriage, For Your Protection, Forgotten Marriage, Friends to Lovers, Living Together, Mentioned Molly Hooper/Tom, POV Stephen Strange, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Post-Doctor Strange (2016), Post-Episode: s03e02 The Sign of Three, Season/Series 03, Stephen Respects Molly's Father, Time Travel, Try For Real, acquaintances
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2019-02-28
Packaged: 2019-05-18 11:50:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14852208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: Fifteen years ago, to fulfill the dying wish of someone who inspired him, Stephen Strange married Molly Hooper on a whim. And then life happened. A life full of many different things for both of them. But when Molly turns up at the Sanctum Santorum demanding an annulment so she can marry her fiancee, it presents an entire situation where neither of them have any idea how to approach a marriage that they aren't sure they want to end as they get to know each other better.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dreamin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamin/gifts).



> So this is a fic that **Dreamin** requested in my surprise prompt claim (" _i hate commitment but my dad’s dying wish is to see me get married and you’re an old family friend i ran into at the airport on my way to visit him so hey let’s get engaged_ ") that only references the prompt in the first chapter and the rest follows the repercussions of this "marriage done on a whim."
> 
> To help with timeline confusion: Stephen has lived through what will be Infinity War Part I and II and used the Eye of Agamatto to send everyone back to a time before "Thor Ragnarok" with some changes to the timeline and the knowledge of other Marvel characters of what happened to them. It's now 2016 for him, two years earlier, but Molly has continued to stay engaged to Tom after "The Sign of Three" in a canon divergence until they attempted to get a license and whoops! Molly's married and they had a fight that made them put the engagement on hold.

**2001**

“Oh, my...Stephen?”

Stephen Strange turned around at the vaguely familiar voice. He knew very few British women, and not that had such a lilting voice. Melody...Melanie...”Molly,” he said as the young woman got closer. “Molly Hooper?”

“It’s been a long time,” she said with a smile. “Not since we were children.”

“Yes,” Stephen said with a nod. He was surprised to see her at LaGuardia. He was on his way to London to attend a special neurosurgery course offered by one of the top doctors in the field. So he knew what _he_ was doing at the airport. But why was Molly in New York? Wasn’t she...supposed to be in medical school? He wasn’t sure. He’d been an acquaintance more than anything else, really. It had been their parents who had been close. “Why are you in New York?”

“I was taking a semester abroad and...” She shut her eyes. “My father isn’t going to make it past the week.”

He was rather cold towards people, he knew that, but one of the friendliest people he had ever met in his life was Dr. Hooper. It had been Molly’s father that sparked his interest in neurosurgery, actually. “I’m sorry, Molly.”

“Are you...headed to Heathrow?” she asked, and he was almost worried she’d start crying on him. He wasn’t sure he could handle that, so he simply nodded. He watched as she composed herself. “Oh. I...he would like to see you, I think. He followed your education.”

“I’m sure he got all sorts of notes from my father,” Stephen said.

“He was almost as proud of you as he was of me. And here I am, going into forensic pathology while you!” She gave him a weak smile. “I’m sorry. I just...he wanted to see me married, and I’m going to be one of those old spinsters with a million cats and he’ll be so disappointed in me. I mean, I didn’t even give him a grandchild but that’s understandable.” She sniffed slightly as a tear slipped down her face. “I’m sorry. You don’t need this. You’re just...a family friend. You don’t even know me. Not really.”

He was not one to make impulsive decisions, but he knew if he did nothing else, this would be the one thing that would make someone he admired happy. And an annulment would be easy to obtain. He reached down and picked up her carry-on. “Follow me.”

“Stephen?” she asked, bewilderment on her face.

“We’re going to make a dying man happy.” He turned around. “Let’s make a trip to city hall.”

Molly’s eyes widened, but she followed him away from the terminal. Hours later they boarded a later flight, and Molly was now, at least legally, Molly Strange. And if he did anything to earn any good karma in his life, not that he really believed in any such nonsense, he hoped this would be enough.


	2. Chapter 2

**2016**

His life had taken more twists and turns than he had ever imagined it would, but seeing the petite woman in front of him was the most unexpected thing that had happened to him in years, and that was saying something after facing off against a near god...twice. “Molly?”

“I need an annulment.”

He knew he looked very different as the Sorcerer Supreme than he ever had as his normal self, and Molly didn’t even seem fazed. And annulment.? What did she…?

Oh.

_That._

He had gotten so busy with medical and his residency and hit had slipped his mind that he’d been married. When things had touched maybe being serious with Christine, he had thought briefly on the past and wondered what had happened with the marriage, if Molly had taken care of it, but then other more important things had taken over.

But apparently, judging by the slight indent on her finger, she had been engaged. And recently. He idly wondered what had happened.

“Well...that poses a problem,” Stephen said.

“What the bloody hell do you _mean_ , it poses a problem?” She stalked up to him, her small feet pounding up the stairs of the Sanctum Santorum as he backed up because if he remembered anything about her from childhood she had a mean right hook and he did not want to be on the receiving end of that.

“I have very powerful enemies,” he said. “And while we are not man and wife in the traditional sense, it’s a matter of legal record. And I don’t think we can have an annulment. at this point, not after thirteen years.”

“Fifteen,” she corrected.

He frowned. “Let’s just say my grasp of time is more fluid than it used to be. The point is, you aren’t safe, even with the dissolution of our marriage.”

“I faced off against James bloody Moriarty and his criminal web and I will be _damned_ if a former skinny twerp like you says I have to stay trapped in a marriage that was a sham all along.”

“Let me keep you safe, Molly,” he said softly as she got nearly face to face with him. “It’s what your father would have wanted.”

“Fine,” she said, crossing her arms and glaring at him. “But let’s get to work on that divorce, shall we? I have a life in London I would like to get back to. I have some patching up of a relationship to do.”

Stephen nodded. “You’re welcome to stay here, as my guest.”

She gave him an angry look and then followed him further up the stairs. Somehow, he knew this was the right thing to do but it was going to be a very interesting situation, and one he was not looking forward to.


	3. Chapter 3

It wasn’t until an hour later that Molly’s anger seemed to have faded to the point where she realized things were extremely...different...than had been the last time she had seen him. He was surprised that it had been fifteen years. Time was, indeed, much more fluid for him now, after living through Thanos’s snap and time in the Soul Stone, and then getting released and helping to reset the timeline with the help of the Guardians of the Galaxy and others. This timeline...had there even been an alien attack in London? Had Molly lived through that?

He had his answer when he found her looking through various displays that hadn’t been destroyed by Mjolinr the last time Thor had been in the Sanctum Santorum. The Cloak was following behind her, draping itself over the nearest case or piece of furniture if Molly would start to turn in its direction. “You may as well get used to her, as she’s going to be here for some time,” he said, startling her.

“I’m the only one in the room, Steph—Ah!” The Cloak did it’s general wave motion as it floated in front of her. “Oh, my...”

“The Cloak of Levitation,” he said. “A true and trusted friend, without whom I may not have survived.”

“A...sentient cloak,” Molly said.

Stephen nodded. “Yeah. He can be annoying sometimes when I’ve got him on and I want to go one way and he wants to go the other. But normally we work it out by me going his way.” He gave her a faint smile. “Is it kind of kicking in that some very strange things have happened to me? Pun not intended.”

“A bit, yeah,” she said with a nod. “You...you use magic?”

“I do,” he said. “I’m kind of the protector of Earth’s magic, now that almost everyone else is dead or being hunted down.” He crossed his arms and the Cloak settled around his shoulders. “Don’t show off.”

Molly looked cheerful for the first time since...well, since they were children, he realized. She’d been miserable the week in England when her father was dying, and not even the joy on Edmund Hooper’s face of seeing his daughter married to the son of one of his best friends had given her cause to smile. She really had a rather nice smile, he realized. “I think it’s sweet.”

“You would,” he said with a grin. “That’s what he’s hoping for.”

“So, what do you mean people are being killed?”

“The kind of people like I am, with a high propensity to perform magic, or even the _ability_ to perform magic, are being hunted down by an old friend of mine, Baron Mordo. Things...” He stroked his goatee for a moment. “It’s a long story and I’m sure Wong is going to want to make sure I’m not telling you all the things I shouldn’t. Want to go pick up Chinese down the street? If you like authentic Chinese, they make the best. I think the cashier has a crush on Wong so she makes sure we get the best portions.”

She nodded. “I can leave this place?”

“With me or Wong, probably. We can keep you safe.” He unhooked the cloak from his shoulders and then stuffed his hands into his jean pockets and nodded towards the stairs. “Come on. My treat.”

Molly nodded and followed him, the Cloak following behind her until Molly glared at it. “A lot has changed,” she said.

“Well, I had one of those ‘reevaluate your existence’ situations happen and...” He pulled a hand out of his pocket now that she was closer. “Can’t be a neurosurgeon when you can’t do delicate scalpel work.”

“Oh, Stephen, I’m sorry.” She seemed sincere in her apology, and he realized he didn’t feel the urge to be snide about it. Personal growth was apparently a thing with him now.

“Don’t be. It cost me everything for a while but this...this feels more like my destiny.” He used that hand to gesture to the cases. “Plus I get to bully gods every once in a while so it has its perks.”

“The Asgardians?” she asked.

“So you know?” he asked, surprised. Apparently, the attack on London had happened after all in this reality.

“Well, a friend of mine has a brother in the British Government, and I was asked to look at a few things that definitely were not human, so I demanded he tell me what happened.”

“Forensic pathology comes in handy sometimes,” he said, feeling relieved. “Well, hopefully, you don't think I’m insane when I tell you the rest of the story. But first? Dinner.” She nodded and they made their way down the stairs. At least this was a promising start to...something.


	4. Chapter 4

Wong had seemed quite amused at his predicament, but it didn’t stop him from trying to flatter Molly at every available moment. Since there was usually just the two of them at the Sanctum Santorum it was a nice change of pace to have a third party there. And as he recounted his journey of how he had gone from being Stephen Strange, doctor, to Doctor Strange, superhero, he could see Molly was fascinated.

Wong pulled her own story out from her and he had to admit, she had had some adventures as well. Maybe not on as world-changing a scale as he had, but dealing with a criminal mastermind? Helping someone fake their death and keeping that secret for years? That sounded even more interesting than his normal days. Not to mention she still did hospital work while caught up in the intrigue, even if it was usually postmortems. He helped get justice in the big ways, it seemed, and she did so in small ways.

But both ways were effective, and that was the important part.

Between the two of them, they shared stories of their childhood. Their fathers had spent medical school together before Molly’s father had gone back to England, but they’d kept in heavy correspondence. While his own father had turned out to be a bit of a disappointment, in more ways than one, even when they were young he’d had his own ego. His sister had always chided him for getting married and not introducing them, he’d told her, and the only sour note the evening really hit was when he had to tell Molly she had passed away. She reached over to clasp his hand, running her thumb along his scarred knuckles, but he found the motion soothing more than anything else.

Finally, the food was done and they were working on some cheesecake slices Wong had gotten from the refrigerator, and Molly had finished hers off and pushed the plate away. “Is my fiancee in danger as well, or just me?”

“You told her about Mordo?” Wong asked.

“Well, I had to. She was here and if he finds out I have a wife...I mean, I know it’s not a _Real_ marriage but I don’t want any more blood on my hands.”

Wong considered things and then nodded. “Perhaps that was a good call.”

“As to your question, Molly, he should be fine,” Stephen replied. “I don’t think any of your friends would be in danger, either. Just you because of your connection to me.”

“And...your ex?” she asked tentatively.

“Christine is here in New York. We’ve made her home as safe as possible and she has a way to contact me to get her immediately if he tries anything. But we’re really mostly friends now, I suppose. I had a chance at something and was my usual self and lost it.”

“Was it before or after your accident?” she asked.

“Both, I’d say. We weren’t together when I got in the accident, but she stayed for a time while I was healing and I pushed her away for good then. She helped me in a battle I fought when I first got real control of my powers, but there’s been no romantic interest.” Stephen tilted his head. “How did you find out the marriage was still valid?”

“Went to apply for a marriage license to Tom. I had honestly forgotten. I don’t even have the ring anymore, I don’t think.” She shrugged. “We did it to make my father happy as he was dying, but I don’t think either of us really considered the aftermath.”

“Well, I think it’s too late for an annulment, but a divorce...that we could do,” he said. “There’s a lawyer who moonlights as a costumed vigilante in Hell’s Kitchen. I’ll see if he can recommend a way to get it done quickly.”

“Good. Good,” she said. “Tom wasn’t exactly happy I have to stay in New York, and I certainly don’t think he believed my life was in danger. It’s not as though you’re as well known as the Avengers. So...there’s that.”

Stephen nodded. “We’ll do all we can to make you comfortable, at least. And I’ll try and hurry to get the divorce taken care of. I don’t want any part of your property and I’m not worth what I was before, but somehow I don’t think that matters to you.”

She smirked at him. “I would kill for one of your cars. I saw an article once where you showcased them.”

“All sold to cure this,” he said, holding his hand up as it shook. He watched as she gently took his hand in hers and traced one of the scars.

“That was a bad joke,” she said quietly. “My apologies.”

“It’s fine, Molly,” he said. “We were close once. We had private jokes. If nothing else, perhaps we can spend this time getting reacquainted before we go our separate ways. I could always do with more friends.”

“Isn’t that the truth,” Wong said, and it elicited a laugh from Molly and a grin from him. Wong looked up and grinned at Molly before changing the subject to Bruce Banner’s arrival back to Earth before the initial fight with Thanos’s minion, and he relaxed, though he did notice it took a few extra seconds for Molly to let go of his hand. Perhaps a friendship could come out of this predicament and that, at least, would be worth all the hassle. He really _could_ use more friends...so long as he wasn’t putting them in danger.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning he got up early and made his usual rounds trying to make sure everything was fine in the universe, as well as trying to track Mordo’s movements, and when he was done he went to get something to eat, surprised to find Wong and Molly already awake and eating. “You know, if there’s anything from home you want while you’re here, we can get it,” Stephen said. “There’s stores here that stock British delicacies.”

“Oooh, I might take you up on that,” she said. “Not that I don’t mind American food, but some of it is baffling. I wanted to have tea with a biscuit to dunk in it last night, and then I realized all you have are cookies.”

“My sweet tooth,” Wong said.

“Well, I do like cookies. I’m quite a good baker, at least with the recipes and measurements I use back home,” she replied, watching Wong’s eyes light up with a smile. “Have you had chocolate chip scones before, Wong?”

“No, but I look forward to trying any you might make.”

“If you want to cook or bake, I’m sure we can accommodate that,” Stephen said. “I know you always did like puttering around in the kitchen with our moms.”

“Yes, well, I _think_ I remember the recipe for the strawberry rhubarb cake your mum taught me. Honestly, there’s not much call for it back home, but I think I’d have everything here.”

This time it was Stephen’s eyes that changed, and he realized he had a fond smile on his face. “If you could, I’d like that.”

“Of course I can try and make it, Stephen,” she said, going over to him. “I suppose it can be repayment for putting you through the trouble of a divorce.”

“My mom would have loved this,” he said with a slight chuckle. “She would have told me that the one truly rash decision I ever made would come back to bite me, but it would all work out in the end.”

“I hope it will,” she said. “Then we can prove your mum right.” She patted his hand and then stopped. “I never even thought to ask if you mind me doing that.”

“I don’t mind,” he said. “Most people take one look at the scars and just avoid touching my hands.”

“I think the scars are meaningful,” she replied. “They show you went through tremendous difficulty in life, and even though things aren’t perfect, in some ways they’re better. You did a lot of good as a doctor, but I suppose you do even more good as a superhero.” She patted his hand again and then smiled at him when she let go. “I’ll work on putting together a list of ingredients I need since I’m done with everything except my coffee.”

“I love cherries, too,” Wong piped up.

She laughed softly at that. “I make an excellent cordial cherry cookie if I can find the cordial cherries, and a decent cherry pie as well. I’ll add ingredients for both to the list.” She gave the two men a wave and then headed out of the kitchen.

“You could have picked worse for a wife to be stuck with,” Wong said. “She would do you good if you didn’t need to end the relationship.”

“You think so?” Stephen asked, getting himself some coffee.

Wong nodded. “I do. Molly is a good woman, and I think that when you aren’t saving the world, the love of a good woman is just what you need.” Wong got up and as he walked by he clapped Stephen on the shoulder. “It’s too late with Christine. Maybe not with your wife.” And then he left, leaving Stephen to stew in his thoughts of what to do next...and whether to try his hardest to get the divorce after all, if he could convince her to give them a chance.

If she even wanted to. After all, she had the fiancee waiting in the wings.

But he had time on his side. He wouldn’t drag things out but yes, he had time on his side, so that was something, at least.


End file.
